Malaika Handa! Crossword constructor! Friend! Delight! More! In her own words from her website:

"My name is Malaika Handa and I've made 565 crossword puzzles. You'll find me in Vulture magazine several days a week, and writing for rexwordpuzzle about once a month. I'm also sporadically published in other outlets (see below); if you'd like to get an email when that happens, sign up here. In the past, I ran the 7xwords project and blogged for Diary of a Crossword Fiend.

When I'm not crossword-ing, I write code, play volleyball, teach high schoolers computer science, drink cocktails, and read romance novels. Find me on Twitter, bluesky or Instagram."

Also, she and I were on a show together a few months ago and here is the talk she gave at that show! It's great! We have a great chat! You can have a great listen! And this is only the first HALF of our chat! For part two, subscribe via Apple Podcasts OR simply head on over here to Patreon!